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Florida Sen. J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales, said he is against a provision in a proposed immigration bill that would make employers use the federal government's E-Verify system to check the status of potential employees, adding that E-Verify is "expensive and glitchy." The bill has stirred controversy among immigrants and other groups. A vote in the state Senate is scheduled for today.

Related Summaries

Several states have tried to pass measures against illegal immigration that are similar to Arizona's, but most of them failed to advance past legislative committees, according to a review by the Associated Press. Business opposition to E-Verify provisions helped doom immigration bills in Florida, Alabama and Indiana.

Several states have tried to pass measures against illegal immigration that are similar to Arizona's, but most of them failed to advance past legislative committees, according to a review by the Associated Press. Business opposition to E-Verify provisions helped doom immigration bills in Florida, Alabama and Indiana.

The Florida Senate on Wednesday passed a bill whose goal is to reduce illegal immigration, but the legislation did not include an amendment that would require businesses to use the E-Verify database. The House has a different bill under consideration, and the legislature's yearly session ends Friday. Debate continues.

Undocumented workers are the focus of two bills in Georgia, where the state's House and Senate are pushing the use of E-Verify by private businesses. The difference is that the Senate favors a guest-worker program and the House doesn't. Meanwhile, the Florida Senate has decided to ease its E-Verify requirement for private businesses if the newly hired submit legal identification documents.

The House and Senate Homeland Security bills provide different amounts of funding for the E-Verify program. The Senate measure includes a three-year extension for the program and $118.5 million, more than the White House requested. Meanwhile, the House measure would extend E-Verify by just two years and would proffer $112 million, the amount originally requested. Meanwhile, one lawmaker said he will introduce legislation requiring all government contractors to start using E-Verify to check the legal status of their workers immediately.